Special Issues

There's Was Something About Bill: Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

January 16, 2008, 12:00 am

By

Last Bill and testament.

***image1***Wyndam Makowsky was a true Bill Believer. The floppy-haired freshman at Stanford University had been video blogging his support since December at Richardsoncampus.blogspot.com. In an interview on Jan. 16, Makowsky told SFR heï¿½d be voting for Bill on Super Duper Tuesday, no matter how far the candidate was behind in the polls.

Ten minutes later, The Associated Press broke the news that Bill was bowing out. What could Bill have done to attract more Wyndams? Not much, according to SFRï¿½s pundits.

ï¿½We had this candidate in this race we nicknamed ï¿½Bidoddson.ï¿½ You had these three veterans with incredible resumes, but running in the primary with the first serious woman candidate and the first African American candidate, Bidoddson got left in the dust. For Richardson, himself, a more consistent performance wouldï¿½ve helped. He had some good debates and some truly bad ones and voters were looking for something more than the up and down.ï¿½

ï¿½Jennifer Duffy, senior editor, Cook Political Report

ï¿½I think he ran a pretty good campaign, actually. I mean, strategically, he seemed to do a lot of the right things. His message was pretty good, his ads were pretty good, but he did get boxed out by the two main personalities and all the money pouring into the race. I think if the financial playing field had been more even, it could have been closer.ï¿½

ï¿½Josh Kurtz, politics editor, Roll Call

ï¿½If we just look at the numbers game, Richardson, by any definition, was raising really good money for this contest. But it wasnï¿½t good enough compared to the front runners, Obama and Clinton and, in the end, the organization you can have because of that money. And they had so much more money. Weï¿½re talking hundreds of millions as opposed to $12 million. Twelve million is greatï¿½normally awesomeï¿½but in this particular contest itï¿½s not enough to see you through.ï¿½

ï¿½Lonna Atkeson, political science professor, University of New Mexico

ï¿½There were a few notable mistakes on Gov. Richardsonï¿½s part, like the Meet the Press interview, which was basically his introduction to the mainstream, and it really didnï¿½t go that well. But other than that, I really donï¿½t think there was much he could have done better. He was competing with three main candidates who had enormous name recognition. To a certain extent the presidential election is a bit of popularity contest and he just wasnï¿½t a known figure nationwide.ï¿½